Kay Brandemuehl, Sue McLean and Erin Jensen

Generations of trust and care

Kay Brandemuehl is no stranger to Grant Regional Health Center—she's been a volunteer at the gift shop for many years. But Kay's history with the hospital goes back much further than that. For Kay and her family, Grant Regional Health Center has been a trusted source of care since the hospital's beginning.

Kay's second child was one of the first to be born in the facility in 1955. "We raised seven healthy kids because of our local hospital," she says. "To me, it's very important to keep this hospital in town. It feels like family. People know they are cared about here."

Kay's daughter, Sue McLean, has bittersweet associations with Grant Regional Health Center. She was born there, and she had all five of her children there. But the moment most memorable to her was when her husband passed away just before her daughter's wedding. "With many family members in town for the wedding, the hospital was filled with friends and family. The hospital blocked off a whole section for us. It was very much appreciated."

Sue shares her mother's confidence in the care at Grant Regional Health Center. "It's a huge relief knowing medical attention is less than 10 minutes away," she says.

No one has felt that relief more than Sue's daughter (Kay's granddaughter), Erin Jensen. Like her mother, Erin also had all of her children at Grant Regional Health Center. Like her grandmother, Erin is also a part of Lancaster's medical community, working at High Point Family Medicine for the primary care provider she respects and trusts so much.

"With four small children, you never know what each day will bring. Having a local hospital with so many services available puts me at ease for the unexpected," says Erin. The unexpected hit when Erin was delivering her youngest child, Leah, on June 30, 2014.

Leah decided to arrive at the same time a tornado came through Lancaster and the city lost power. "The hospital was on lockdown," recalls Erin. A professional, Erin labored though work, then got home in time to take her older children to her mother's before arriving with her husband back at the hospital at 6:01 p.m., one minute after the hospital regained power. Nine minutes after that, Leah was born.

"I was impressed with the efficiency and calmness of the nurses during that stressful rush," Erin says.

Through four generations, Grant Regional Health Center has been there for Kay, Sue, Erin and their families. "There is a sense of trust and confidence when you know the people caring for you and your family," says Erin. "It's a difference that means the world."